Lesbians In Space: Where No Man Has Gone Before

by J.S. Fields (Editor), Heather Tracy, William C. Tracy

Peanut butter and chocolate. Cheese and wine. Sex and rock n' roll. History is full of great pairings. Get ready for your new Lesbians and Space! Join a host of intrepid explorers heading to the outer reaches of the galaxy, exploring planets, space stations, strange new worlds and interesting aliens.

Launch into stories that span the cosmos, covering Space Opera, Xenobiology, Space Stations, Adventure, and Spaceships! From spaceship mechanics to intergalactic colony queens, heists, smugglers, gods, and sentient planets, Lesbians in Space explores the galaxy from the unique perspective of the lesfic world, blending the best of sapphic literature with modern sci-fi and space opera tropes.

With stories Mary Robinette Kowal, Seanan McGuire, Travis Baldree, Emma Newman, MK Hardy, Ashleigh Martin, Nathan Chu, Stewart C Baker, Kayla Whittle, Joel Glover, Caye Marsh, Kira Neu, Jes Honard, Scarlet Passmore, Sylvie Althoff, Jasmine Gower, Siena Buchanan, Beáta Fülöp, Danielle Woolhead, J.S. Fields, and Heather Tracy

Space Opera / Science Fiction / Fantasy / Romance / LGBT Lesbian Trans ace Bi Nonbinary

Adult and New Adult

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Romance, Fiction, Space, Lesbian

345 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 24, 2025

Reviews

[Maria Fledgling Author Park · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Feast for your Sci-Fi Senses

What a fun book and some really great writing as well. I forget how much I love short stories. Especially when they are done around a theme.

Lesbians in Space raised a different image than the stories I read. The authors made unique use of the pairing pronouns. Instead of F/F you get to experience AI/Human and Android/Android.

There were a couple of storms that left me in tears and several that provoked me to think for a while. I love books that challenge your status quo and make you view the world or someone else's world through their eyes.

I would highly recommend this anthology. It's better than you might think.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Before I retired and had more time to read, I read mostly science fiction short stories. Having stories I could read in one sitting worked perfectly. Also, being more than a bit verbose, I greatly admired an author who is able to layout a plot, create characters, and build a story with a beginning, middle, and end all within a few pages. FYI - if you really like SHORT stories, my favorite is Microcosmic Tales which has one hundred excellent stories all under ten pages.

Now that I have time, I spend most of it reading longer tales, many spanning more than one book. I have come to appreciate authors going into more detail, developing deeper characters, and creating intertwining storylines. Still, every now and then, an anthology is a good way to explore many ideas and authors, all in a few pages.

Lesbians in Space; Where No Man Has Gone Before is one such anthology. This book brings together twenty-one fantastic stories broken down into five sections; Space Opera, Xenobiology, Space Stations, Adventure, and Spaceships. In just over three hundred pages you get to experience the magic of twenty-one different authors spinning original and unique Sci Fi tales.

The stories include; intergalactic musicians, resurrection achieved through left over ones and zeros, extraterrestrial fungi, space dragons, and even a Star Trek; the Next Generation parody. Not everyone was to my liking but the majority of these tales were well written and entertaining. Many are romantic, a few are about lost loves, and one is about a relationship that many last till the end of time.

By the way, if you are expecting a lot of titillating tales, you will be disappointed. While there are a few kissing and touching scenes, the authors leave anything more than that to the reader’s imagination. However, if you want to see science fiction from a different orientation, this is your book.

[OldBird · Rating 3 out of 5]

All anthologies like this are hard to rate. The huge variety of writing styles, not to mention themes ranging from cute fluff to *ahem* adult situations to the psychology of grief, will always make stories a hit or miss depending on the reader.

For me, some of the earlier stories didn't hit the mark. It did make me question if I should continue. I was glad to find more to like as I worked through the anthology, with a few really standing out as my kind of short story:

As Above, So Below by Joel Glover
A quiet, introspective coming together of a human and an AI abandoned in a science base.

Decompression by Emma Newman
Lost in space, a woman thinks back on her life and her what-could-have-been love.

Hot Teeth by Sylvie Althoff
A gritty yet comedic heist is organized by a waitress and an old flame.

Shapes by Seanan McGuire
The sci-fi staple of the ethics of exploring new worlds combines with the angst of a couple who discover something that causes them their own world of pain.

Ten Generations by Beata Fulop
A conceptually curious tale of an exodus ship told throughout the generations.

(That's not to say I wouldn't check out the works of a other authors who can really weave a story and have fun with their themes, I'd just like to see them have more space than a short story word count allows.)

[Paul Shen-Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Endless joy … I hope they make more, and more …

If you are looking for pure, indulgent entertainment, you have a good one here. The collection features a wide variety of authors who come at the broad theme in creative ways. Some make you snicker, others make you go hmm, a few might bring you to tears, but I wasn’t disappointed by any of them. The opening tale is pure pipe-smoking wish fulfillment, and from there it’s like the Pooka of Irish myth - you think you got lucky and found a nice, easy ride home, then it bucks and rears and charges off into the night on the ride of your life. I could go through the TOC and list all my favorites, but that would get old, so I’ll end with a shout out for the lovely tale “Building a Home” by bright new author Jessi Honard. It’s worth the price for how deeply that one touches you alone.

[Christopher Gerrib · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some anthologies can be tough reads because the theme is too narrow. This is not one of them - in fact, it's the best anthology I've read in a while. Thanks to a wide group of authors and good editing, there's not a bad story in the bunch. Having said that, a couple of highlights:

"Vendo Does Not Give Change" - an interesting take on AI and evolution.
"The Mycologist's Guide to Identifying and Antagonizing Extraterrestrial Fungi" - one of two stories with intelligent fungi in them.
"Decompression" - a two-character love story.
"While it Lasted" - an entertaining heist story.
"The Ritter Maneuver" - a great short Star Trek parody.

I highly recommend this book, and there's a Volume 2 coming out soon!

[James Crawford · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's a lot of stories in this book. Most of them I thought were good or really good although a few weren't up to snuff. One doesn't have a good ending in my opinion. You've got explosions, a dragon princess, a symbiotic relationship, a boneeater, space dragons, scavengers, cryosleep chambers, organic computers, a wrecked spaceship and various other stories.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

A charming collection of short stories. Only a few were mediocre, and several were exceptional, including Travis Baldree and Seanan McGuire's. I love that they closed with a hilarious little genderbent TNG satire- the Ritter Maneuver.

[Sherry · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. Good variety of stories and I enjoyed reading the collection.

[carol mammano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lesbians in Space

Anthology. Got it for Mary Robinette Kowel and Seanan McGuire. They were very good but so were most of the others. Get it, read it, enjoy it

[Sylvie]

DNF 100p